awareness to the need of increased funding and
programs for those brave men and women who had served their country valiantly.
One of the programs Paul had told his family about was placing therapy or
service dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD. Tim had some questions for his
brother on that very subject.
*****
He’d done his research, pumped Paul for as much information
as possible and had enlisted the help of Rob’s doctor, Dr. Jenna Francis. She
was a therapist who specialized in diagnosing and treating Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder within the FDNY. Rob had been willing to be their ‘test case’ and Tim
hoped that soon there’d be dozens more with the help of the humane society.
That’s where Matt and his millions of dollars came in.
Because Matt and his company, MEL Holdings, was one of the
humane society’s biggest donors, when Matt asked for something, he usually got
it. Tim was going to use every advantage he could muster to get his idea moving
forward.
With Tim’s idea, Jenna’s credentials, Paul’s program data
and Matt’s money, they were able to begin their own program placing shelter
dogs with firefighters diagnosed with PTSD. Along with therapy and medication, when
necessary, after six weeks improvement was being seen, and felt.
Rob was back at work, Izzy at his side. Engine 23 had
adopted her as their official mascot. The shelter had been able to hire another
fulltime animal behavior specialist to identify which dogs would be appropriate
for the program and with the help of Jenna they matched up each firefighter
with their new best friend.
Even the fire department bigwigs were starting to take
notice. With a workforce that had as high as thirty-seven percent officially
diagnosed with PTSD, and probably many more that went undiagnosed, this program
could potentially save the department money, which was always a top priority,
and create a healthier group of employees; physically, psychologically and
emotionally. Tim had received a commendation and if this program continued to
go well, Captain was well within his grasp.
For weeks, every spare minute not on the job was devoted to
his new cause. He rarely went out for drinks after work and hadn’t been on a
date since he’d taken Beth and Emma to dinner before Thanksgiving, not that he
considered it a date. Jenna didn’t even tempt him. She was young and extremely
attractive but their relationship was strictly professional and even if he had
been interested, he would never have acted on it. There was too much at stake.
He would never risk the program that he was totally invested in.
Plus, he still thought about Beth all the time, even though
he’d stopped calling her after Christmas. She’d never answered and she’d never
returned any of his messages.
For several weeks he’d gone over in his head what he could
have possibly done to offend or hurt her. The only thing he could come up with
was his run in with Amanda, but he’d explained all that and he thought
everything was fine between them. The only other reason that he could think of
was that Emma didn’t like him and she’d convinced Beth that he wasn’t right for
her. He was beginning to think that that was probably the more likely of the
two.
At the end of March Tim had been approached by the FDNY and
was asked to present an award to the humane society at their annual benefit the
last weekend of April. The fire department was honoring the organization for
their generous donations of animals to serve as therapy dogs for their employees
in the PTSD program. Tim was honored to do so and willingly accepted the
assignment.
11.
Tim stood at the front of the ballroom talking to his
brothers. His whole family had arrived to support him as he gave the award to
the humane society. Matt and Janie were the last to arrive.
“Paparazzi are everywhere,” Matt sighed as he kissed his
mother and hugged his father.
“They only want pictures of you,” Paul replied. “They
programs for those brave men and women who had served their country valiantly.
One of the programs Paul had told his family about was placing therapy or
service dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD. Tim had some questions for his
brother on that very subject.
*****
He’d done his research, pumped Paul for as much information
as possible and had enlisted the help of Rob’s doctor, Dr. Jenna Francis. She
was a therapist who specialized in diagnosing and treating Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder within the FDNY. Rob had been willing to be their ‘test case’ and Tim
hoped that soon there’d be dozens more with the help of the humane society.
That’s where Matt and his millions of dollars came in.
Because Matt and his company, MEL Holdings, was one of the
humane society’s biggest donors, when Matt asked for something, he usually got
it. Tim was going to use every advantage he could muster to get his idea moving
forward.
With Tim’s idea, Jenna’s credentials, Paul’s program data
and Matt’s money, they were able to begin their own program placing shelter
dogs with firefighters diagnosed with PTSD. Along with therapy and medication, when
necessary, after six weeks improvement was being seen, and felt.
Rob was back at work, Izzy at his side. Engine 23 had
adopted her as their official mascot. The shelter had been able to hire another
fulltime animal behavior specialist to identify which dogs would be appropriate
for the program and with the help of Jenna they matched up each firefighter
with their new best friend.
Even the fire department bigwigs were starting to take
notice. With a workforce that had as high as thirty-seven percent officially
diagnosed with PTSD, and probably many more that went undiagnosed, this program
could potentially save the department money, which was always a top priority,
and create a healthier group of employees; physically, psychologically and
emotionally. Tim had received a commendation and if this program continued to
go well, Captain was well within his grasp.
For weeks, every spare minute not on the job was devoted to
his new cause. He rarely went out for drinks after work and hadn’t been on a
date since he’d taken Beth and Emma to dinner before Thanksgiving, not that he
considered it a date. Jenna didn’t even tempt him. She was young and extremely
attractive but their relationship was strictly professional and even if he had
been interested, he would never have acted on it. There was too much at stake.
He would never risk the program that he was totally invested in.
Plus, he still thought about Beth all the time, even though
he’d stopped calling her after Christmas. She’d never answered and she’d never
returned any of his messages.
For several weeks he’d gone over in his head what he could
have possibly done to offend or hurt her. The only thing he could come up with
was his run in with Amanda, but he’d explained all that and he thought
everything was fine between them. The only other reason that he could think of
was that Emma didn’t like him and she’d convinced Beth that he wasn’t right for
her. He was beginning to think that that was probably the more likely of the
two.
At the end of March Tim had been approached by the FDNY and
was asked to present an award to the humane society at their annual benefit the
last weekend of April. The fire department was honoring the organization for
their generous donations of animals to serve as therapy dogs for their employees
in the PTSD program. Tim was honored to do so and willingly accepted the
assignment.
11.
Tim stood at the front of the ballroom talking to his
brothers. His whole family had arrived to support him as he gave the award to
the humane society. Matt and Janie were the last to arrive.
“Paparazzi are everywhere,” Matt sighed as he kissed his
mother and hugged his father.
“They only want pictures of you,” Paul replied. “They
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